Read The Chapel of Bones: (Knights Templar 18) Online
Authors: Michael Jecks
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #blt, #_rt_yes, #_MARKED
The Chapel of Bones: (Knights Templar 18)
Copyright © 2004 Michael Jecks
The right of Michael Jecks to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
First published as an Ebook by
Headline Publishing Group in 2014
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978 1 4722 1979 4
HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
An Hachette UK Company
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Table of Contents
Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on his writing. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, has been Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association, and helped create the Historical Writers’ Association. Keen to help new writers, for some years he organised the Debut Dagger competition, and is now organising the Aspara Writing festival for new writers at Evesham. He has judged many prizes, including the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Michael is an international speaker on writing and for business. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor.
Michael can be contacted through his website:
www.michaeljecks.co.uk
.
He can be followed on twitter (@MichaelJecks) or on
Facebook.com/Michael.Jecks.author
.
His photos of Devon and locations for his books can be found at:
Flickr.com/photos/Michael_Jecks
.
The Last Templar
The Merchant’s Partner
A Moorland Hanging
The Crediton Killings
The Abbot’s Gibbet
The Leper’s Return
Squire Throwleigh’s Heir
Belladonna at Belstone
The Traitor of St Giles
The Boy-Bishop’s Glovemaker
The Tournament of Blood
The Sticklepath Strangler
The Devil’s Acolyte
The Mad Monk of Gidleigh
The Templar’s Penance
The Outlaws of Ennor
The Tolls of Death
The Chapel of Bones
The Butcher of St Peter’s
A Friar’s Bloodfeud
The Death Ship of Dartmouth
Malice of Unnatural Death
Dispensation of Death
The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover
The Prophecy of Death
The King of Thieves
No Law in the Land
The Bishop Must Die
The Oath
King’s Gold
City of Fiends
Templar’s Acre
‘Michael Jecks is the master of the medieval whodunnit’ Robert Low
‘Captivating… If you care for a well-researched visit to medieval England, don’t pass this series’
Historical Novels Review
‘Michael Jecks has a way of dipping into the past and giving it that immediacy of a present-day newspaper article… He writes…with such convincing charm that you expect to walk round a corner in Tavistock and meet some of the characters’
Oxford Times
‘Great characterisation, a detailed sense of place, and a finely honed plot make this a superb medieval historical’
Library Journal
‘Stirring intrigue and a compelling cast of characters will continue to draw accolades’
Publishers Weekly
‘A tortuous and exciting plot… The construction of the story and the sense of period are excellent’
Shots
‘This fascinating portrayal of medieval life and the corruption of the Church will not disappoint. With convincing characters whose treacherous acts perfectly combine with a devilishly masterful plot, Jecks transports readers back to this wicked world with ease’
Good Book Guide
The eighteenth novel in Micahel Jecks’s medieval Knights Templar series.
In 1283, Exeter’s Cathedral Close was the scene of a vicious ambush. Now, forty years on, more deaths are ocurring. Is the first an accident? The second is surely not, and the killer will not be easy to catch. The victim, Henry Potell, was feared by many, and held secrets some would wish to keep hidden at any cost…
For investigators Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King’s Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, events become increasingly mysterious. Who among Henry Potell’s companions would have wanted him dead? The key to the mystery lies in the ominous Chapel of Bones, built in reparation for that terrible murder so many years ago.
This book is for Don and all the Mortons.
In affectionate and loving memory of Mary.
Also for Keith Aylwin.
A kind, considerate, and generous friend.
He’s missed.
Map of Exeter in Early 1300s
Map of Cathedral Close
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| Accounts | Medieval accounting was very simple compared with today’s bookkeeping. The accounts were kept yearly on rolls of parchment sewn together, top-to-tail, and recorded simply charge and discharge, with totals carried forward each year. |
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| Annuellar | Priests appointed by the Dean and Chapter of a cathedral to service a specific chantry and participate in certain tasks. |
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| Approver | The medieval equivalent of ‘Turning King’s Evidence’. A felon could confess and thereby postpone his execution; this often meant that he, the approver, would have to stand in combat against his former partners in crime. |
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| Calefactory | A ‘warming room’ in a monastery or nunnery in which a good, blazing fire was kept going during the colder months. |
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| Canon | Exeter Cathedral had a large Chapter of some twenty-four canons – men who had chosen to live together under the Church’s rules. They controlled the income of the Cathedral and mostly lived in the Close in their own houses. |
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| Chapter | The Cathedral at Exeter was ruled by the dignitaries – Church officials who possessed separate endowments. |
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| Chaunter | An archaic term for the next most senior Dignitary after the Dean. More recently (and commonly) known as the Precentor. |
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| Choir | The full body of men who served the Cathedral, including the canons and the minor clergy . The word also refers to the part of the Cathedral where their stalls were located. |
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| Common Fund | This was the fund through which all the running costs of the Chapter were maintained – prebends for canons , monies for food and drink and so on. The two Stewards, both canons , received money into the exchequer for the Common Fund (which did not include the Fabric monies) and then allocated it to salaries and expenses. |
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| Dignitaries | The ruling body of the Cathedral, comprising the Treasurer, Chancellor, Precentor and Dean. |
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| Fabric Fund | While the Common Fund dealt with the general Chapter running costs, the Fabric handled all the actual Cathedral building expenses. The Warden of the Fabric received and dispensed the money for supplies of timber, iron, wages for the workers and all other aspects of the works. |
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| Minor Clergy | Four groups consisting of the Vicars Choral, Secondaries, Choir and Annuellars . The minor clergy had a pleasant, sociable life with access to good food and drink, and a certain amount of personal freedom. |
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| Secondaries | Appointed by the Dean himself, these were usually young men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four. Many were choristers whose voices had broken. |
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| Treasurer | One of the four ‘dignitaries’ of the Cathedral, the Treasurer was responsible for the general Chapter costs. At Exeter this did not include responsibility for the Fabric accounts – as far as we can tell. Instead there were two Wardens of the Fabric, one of whom was the Master Mason and the other a member of the Chapter. In 1300 and beyond, this was a vicar. |
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| Vicars Choral | The personal servants of the canons . Each was appointed by his own canon, to whom he rendered personal services in exchange for benefits. He had lodgings in the canon’s house, meals at his table, and accompanied his canon to the Cathedral. In 1300 these men were paid between two and three pounds each year in cash, but of course they also received free board and lodging. |
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| Warden of the Fabric | The Chapter member responsible for the Fabric accounts and who worked with the Master Mason – also called the Clerk of the Works. |